August 4, 2026

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Californians for Affordable Living today announced that more than 25 organizations have officially joined the coalition, reflecting growing pushback against costly self-checkout mandates that would hurt Californians already squeezed by the state’s cost-of-living crisis.

The coalition’s growing momentum illustrates that people across the state are at their breaking point with California’s unsustainable cost of living. Californians already pay the third-highest grocery prices in the country, closely following Hawaii and Alaska despite California having far lower shipping and logistical costs.

Mandates targeting self-checkout only make these struggles worse by driving up grocery costs and making it more expensive for families to fill a cart.

“Taking away self-checkout doesn’t solve affordability. It makes it worse,” said Mike Hedges, President of the California Small Business Association. “At a time when people in our communities are already struggling to make ends meet, self-checkout mandates will drive costs higher and are the wrong policy for lawmakers to focus on.”

Californians for Affordable Living is a diverse coalition of business organizations, retailers, consumer advocates and community organizations that have banded together to call on elected officials at every level of government to focus on what matters most to the people they serve: lowering California's unsustainable cost of living.

To learn more about the coalition and its partners, please visit KeepCAAffordable.org.